Shortage of skilled labor in North Alabama

MADISON COUNTY, Ala. -- There is a shortage of skilled labor in North Alabama which is impacting companies who hire people to do work like electricity, plumbing, welding, and basic construction.

Local companies are trying to keep up with demand as Madison County continues to grow.

The owner of Hammer & Sales says he has been trying to hire skilled labor for over a year without any luck.

“I’ve been trying to hire skilled labor for about a year. Ads on Facebook, ads on everywhere I can put and it finally clicked in my head that I’m not going to get the skilled labor I need. So instead, I’m going to grow my own. I put an ad out that I want unskilled labor. Someone who can just carry things, tote wood, and just clean up and maybe on accident learn a few tricks and hopefully, then we can bring them on full-time as skilled labor," says Travis Boginski.

Travis Boginski says while there is a shortage of skilled labor nationwide, in this area, "there is more work than there has been in a long time. Obviously, since 2008 forward, there’s tons of work. Nationwide, not only here there is a major lack of skilled labor."

"I think people are coming out of school and doing more computer school and engineering. Especially around here we are an engineering town so there is a lot of that," says Boginski.

Boginski says they are really looking for just anyone who is willing to show up and work hard. "We are really spread thin, and just having extra hands even if they don't know how to run a skill saw or read a tape measure, just having extra hands would help us out tremendously."

He says he is seeing more and more construction jobs come in, but he simply does not have the manpower to tackle all of that work. The growth in Madison County just adds to it all.

"We have the FBI coming here and Facebook coming here and the huge growth. And there's a lot of people coming in. Home builders can't build enough homes and re-modelers, like me, can't remodel enough. Everyone wants something done. Kitchens, bathrooms, additions, all the way up to new construction."

Boginski says this is the perfect opportunity for young adults who just graduated or are looking for a summer job to try out a new career field.